US cooperation with Russia essential for resolving Syrian crisis: Expert

The administration of US President-elect Donald Trump must cooperate with Russia if it wants to end the years-old conflict in Syria, according to James Jatras, a former US Senate policy adviser and diplomat.

“Cooperation with Moscow is essential in Syria if we want to bring that war to a close, and not end up with a terrorist state in place of a current government,” said Jatras, who is also a specialist in international relations and legislative politics in Washington.

Several US senators have said they would counter the incoming Republican president if he moves to establish warm relations with Russia and President Vladimir Putin.

Lawmakers, including Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain, would like Trump to rein in the Kremlin, but they are also willing to take unilateral measures if necessary, according to an analysis by congressional newspaper The Hill.

Jatras told Press TV on Monday that Trump should take these threats very seriously. “I particularly hope that he takes that into account in naming his own choices for his own cabinet, for secretary of state, the Defense Department, and so forth.”

“He really does have a firm, and I think, very reasonable and principled position that he outlined during the campaign about trying to reach out to Moscow, particularly on joint efforts against these Salafist terror groups that the Obama administration has been supporting, and also our so-called allies like Turkey and Saudi Arabia,” the analyst noted.

“So, I think, to say the least, these threats from members of Congress are misguided, and I think that Donald Trump needs to stand up to them, and shows that he knows where he wants to take American policy,” he stated.

Since March 2011, the United States and its regional allies, in particular Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, have been conducting a proxy war against Syria.

The years-long conflict has left more than 470,000 Syrians dead and half of the country’s population of about 23 million displaced within or beyond the Arab country’s borders.

In September 2014, the US and some of its allies started conducting airstrikes inside Syria against purported Daesh positions. Last year, Russia launched its own air offensive against the terrorists wreaking havoc in Syria.

During the election campaign, Trump had blamed the Obama administration for the destabilization of the Middle East and North African regions, and for the creation of Daesh through its wrong-headed policies.

Trump had maintained that, if elected, his administration would establish strong working relationship with Russia and President Putin in order to resolve main global problems, particularly the threat of Daesh terrorism and the Syrian crisis.